Tom Brands explains decision to use Angelo Ferrari over Gabe Arnold vs. Carter Starocci

Iowa head coach Tom Brands made a curious decision Friday night against No. 1 Penn State, putting Angelo Ferrari over Gabe Arnold.

The 184 pound match for the No. 2 Hawkeyes was going to be a challenge regardless with four-time NCAA champion Carter Starocci on the other side. But after Arnold called out Penn State and Starocci last weekend, it was a little surprising to see the true freshman.

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Brands made sure to inform that Ferrari still has the ability to redshirt this year with more one available date and they wanted to keep Arnold fresh.

“You get five (matches), we’re going to use them for Ferrari, we’re going to use them and we’re not going to use them against cupcakes,” Brands said. “We need to make sure that (Arnold’s) feeling pretty doggone good down this stretch, he’s going to be our guy at (184).”

An interesting choice from Brands. The remaining 184 pound matchups for Arnold, or Ferrari, are No. 11 Jaxon Smith (Maryland), No. 8 Silas Allred (Nebraska), No. 4 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) and No. 3 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State), as far as ranked matchups are concerned.

So where exactly does Brands play chess with Arnold and Ferrari, now that the latter has one remaining date?

Lost in this decision was a solid match from the true freshman. Ferrari held Starocci to a 3-1 decision where the Nittany Lion did not score a takedown in the match.

It was the first collegiate loss for Ferrari after going 9-0 with seven bonus point victories. It was also the first non-bonus point victory for Starocci this season, who’s now 13-0.

Arnold is ranked No. 5 in the country at 184 pounds, per InterMat, and is 11-0 on the season. 

Regarding Arnold and Ferrari, Starocci had the last laugh before and after the match.

“I thought the other guy was the starter,” Starocci said, referring to Ferrari earlier this week. “Didn’t the other guy win the tournament? I think the game plan is for the other guy. I think the other guy is a better wrestler but I don’t know. I think maybe (Arnold) is just trying to sell tickets but I think our crowd comes out every single time so there’s nothing to sell. I’ll be there Friday night ready to go.”

Penn State won eight of 10 bouts Friday night and won 30-8, continuing their dominant run and pushed their dual meet win streak to 66 under Cael Sanderson.